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Something macabre is brewing at Decatur’s Wesley Chapel-William C. Brown Library. At its monthly Murder & Mocktails event, assistant branch manager Angela Morris gathers true-crime enthusiasts in a small room behind the bookshelves, where they dissect juicy, sinister, or downright peculiar criminal cases, paired with themed nonalcoholic drinks.
Morris got the idea for Murder & Mocktails at a conference, when a fellow librarian presented about a true crime podcast meetup she hosted at a bar. Morris kicked off her own event in June 2025; it quickly developed a loyal community of true-crime lovers. “People are listening and communicating without judgment,” Morris says. “You are not just talking into the void.”
This new library event reflects a broader cultural wave of interest in true crime. The number of weekly U.S. true-crime podcast listeners nearly tripled from 6.7 million in 2019 to 19.1 million in 2024, according to Edison Research. Nearly half of surveyed listeners said they enjoyed exploring the underlying psychology behind crimes, a curiosity Morris shares.
“As a librarian, one of my main focuses is to promote free thought and information,” Morris says. “I add layers to what they already know. I focus on the psychological and sociological aspects of the crime that are sometimes overlooked.”
The recent true-crime blitz has also led to a wave of citizen sleuthing, in which people not associated with law enforcement attempt to collectively solve cases. Websleuths, a popular online hub for such detective work, has seen its membership increase by 81 percent since 2018. And where better to learn digital-research skills than at the library: Morris uses her librarian training to dive deep into noteworthy crimes, sharing archival news clippings and using library resources such as Kanopy or Libby. “Although [Murders & Mocktails] could be hosted somewhere else, I believe in bringing people back into the library to showcase everything it offers,” Morris says.
May’s gathering explored cult-related crime, including the 1978 Jonestown massacre; the evening was paired with “Jim Jones Flavor-Aid,” made with ginger beer. In June, attendees sipped sour apple mocktinis while discussing bizarre cases, such as the teenage fugitive Colton Harris Moore, the “Barefoot Bandit” from Washington who taunted the FBI by taking a selfie inside a stolen Mercedes. This month’s event (October 26), fittingly, will focus on crimes of the occult.
“I love true crime,” Morris says of her inspiration to start Murder & Mocktails. “And [I] realized that a large percentage of the population shares that same sort of morbid curiosity.”
This article appears in our October 2026 issue.
